Kia is getting ready to produce the fully electric EV9 SUV in Georgia. Well, it is beginning the process of getting ready. The Korean automaker is expanding its West Point assembly plant in Georgia in order to produce the EV9, a three-row SUV. The production facility will start with model-year 2024 production in the second quarter of 2024.
This is a $200 million investment to expand the production facility. If you assume a $10,000 profit on each model, Kia would need to sell 20,000 units to break even. (I don’t know what the actual per-unit profit is expected to be.)
Expanding the production line will create around 200 jobs in Troup County where the factory is located. The Kia Georgia production plan already produces the Telluride, Sorento, Sportage, and K5 — three SUV gasmobiles and one sedan gasmobile, respectively. So, the EV9 will be Kia’s foray into EV production in all of North America. (I wonder if Joe Biden has anything to do with that.)
“Like Telluride, EV9 has the potential to be another ‘game changer’ for Kia,” said Sean Yoon, president & CEO, Kia North America and Kia America. “This will be the most sophisticated vehicle that we have ever built and will be a standout in the EV market and on the road. Best of all, it will be assembled in West Point, Georgia.”
Kia adds that the EV9 “combines all the best SUV elements of the award-winning Telluride with the best EV elements of the award-winning EV6. EV9 will mix capability with technology and refined elegance.”
The Kia EV9 does indeed look like a great, potentially very popular electric SUV. We’ve written about it four times this year, so I won’t write at length about it again but will rather direct you to these articles:
Featured image courtesy of Kia.
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